Protocol Overview

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Childhood Maltreatment #210101

Protocol Release Date

May 31, 2016

Protocol Name From Source

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), 1997

Description of Protocol

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire¿Short Form (CTQ) is a 28-item, self-reported questionnaire administered to adolescents and adults to identify traumatic childhood conditions. The CTQ includes five subscales: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect. The questionnaire also includes a minimalization/denial scale for detecting individuals who may be underreporting traumatic events. The respondent reviews the list of items and chooses the response that best describes his or her experiences.

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ) is a 28-item, self-report instrument that contains five subscales:

- Physical abuse

- Sexual abuse

- Emotional abuse

- Physical neglect

- Emotional neglect

The scale includes 25 questions that cover items such as having emotional support, feeling loved, wearing dirty clothes, and being sexually and physically abused that tap into the five dimensions of abuse and neglect. The questionnaire also includes a three-question minimalization/denial scale for detecting individuals who may be underreporting traumatic events. All questions in the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire are preceded by "When I was growing up…"

Scoring Instructions

The respondent answers the questions on a five-point Likert scale: (1) never true, (2) rarely true, (3) sometimes true, (4) often true, and (5) very often true. The individual items are summed to give subscale scores from 5 to 25. The CTQ scoring manual provides guidelines for establishing thresholds for four levels of abuse/neglect for each subscale: None; Moderate; Severe; Extreme.

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was selected because it is a widely used, validated protocol with documented validity and reliability; CTQ scores have been associated with indicators of health in adjustment in prior research.

No specific training is needed if data are collected through a self-administered questionnaire.

Equipment Needs

These questions can be administered in a computerized or noncomputerized format (i.e., paper-and pencil instrument). Computer software is necessary to develop computer-assisted instruments. The interviewer will require a laptop computer or handheld computer to administer or to allow the respondent to self-administer a computer-assisted questionnaire.